"Bright" Future

Where is the drive in todays line cooks. Few and far between I see what I had when I was in their shoes. To move up and take the persons job in front of me. Passion to learn or take in knowledge to excel in the craft they say they want to work in.

I see faces that assume they should be handed a saut'e pan and a jacket with the title Chef embroidered on the left side of the coat. Not willing to put in the effort and grind with their head down and the words " Yes Chef " coming out of their mouth during a rush. Not willing to study after a long shift to educate themselves outside the workplace, but instead get fucked up after work and assume they know how to make the dish on the menu without ever understanding the science and technique behind it.

Seventy Five percent of everything you learn in the kitchen is self taught. Reading and practicing at home on your free time. Coming into work early and picking the Chefs brain to make a special with the scrap they have no use for. I tell all my cooks, "Go and buy two whole chicken and break them down at home, if you want to learn how to break the chicken down teach yourself first and I can answer the 25% that you don't understand." The self knowledge and effort is lost. Everything needs to be handed out these days with no reason given.

It's hard to teach people that don't want the education even though they say they do. Countless times I find cooks doing half of what I explain to do because they only listen to what they think they need to listen too. I don't enjoy the sound of my voice so I'm not speaking because I like to hear my self.

This is a huge problem not just in the kitchen but across any job field. In todays society and school system kids are taught they can get anything handed to them because they are entitled. This creates a major issue when they enter their so called career. They assume it will all be handed to them because they always got an A for effort and a participation trophy for riding the bench. They are not taught you have to work for what you want, but instead if you cry and under achieve you will be answered with everything you want.

I do believe there are cooks out there willing to give it their all to become a Chef, I work with a few. But I also believe there are more that aren't willing to give what it takes to become a Chef. It all start with how the kids are raised and taught all the way up through high school to give them hope that they will enter the field with drive and work ethic. It takes a lot of time and sacrifice to work in this field or any field by any means. But we could lose a lot of passion in the future with the way kids are brought up. I am not a father, but I'm not blind either.